Common Core: College- and Career-Ready Standards

To ensure all students are prepared for success after graduation and to significantly improve American competitiveness, governors from both political parties, chief state school officials, and community leaders from 48 states met and worked with top education experts and academics to produce the Common Core State Standards, taking into account more than 10,000 pieces of feedback from individuals, teachers, and organizations.

Common Core State Standards are, quite simply, a prioritized, clearly stated list of skills a student must master in each grade level in order to be on track to succeed at college-level work. These standards are internationally benchmarked and, for the first time in generations, raise the bar for American students to the level of their international peers. By supporting higher standards aligned to career and college expectations, business leaders are putting students’ full potential first.

Adoption of Common Core State Standards, which business leaders see as common sense, is one of the most successful education reforms for higher standards of the past decade. Change within public institutions is always difficult, and the execution of the new standards with fidelity and speed will need the support of business and community leaders, legislators, educators, and parents.